VINE- Great joke!
So, we're part of the SAS program ( which we really find useful) and as such we're having all kind of benefiths when launching new products.
We' launched a new line for Acne targeting Teens, we gave 25 sets ( $103 value each) to viners, assuming they will be reviewed by the target audience or their parents. BIG #$%^ MISTAKE!
some of the reviews:
- 4 stars - "Has helped a little but definitely no miracle cure for sure! Probably better for teens than adults.." DUH! adults' acne and teens are completely different
- 3 stars -"I don't have an acne problem, so I can't fully judge the effectiveness of this set." - what the..? So why did you order it?
- 4 stars - "I'm now a middle-aged adult, however,..." However what? what did you think would happen? you'll become a teenager again?
- 3 stars- " I don't have acne or teens lol" - Lol?
Bottom line, 19 reviews - 5 are to the point the rest are pure Blah blah BS! THAT PROMOTS NOTHING- !
A. DON'T USE VINE if it's not tergeted
B. anything i can do about it?
Thank you
VINE- Great joke!
So, we're part of the SAS program ( which we really find useful) and as such we're having all kind of benefiths when launching new products.
We' launched a new line for Acne targeting Teens, we gave 25 sets ( $103 value each) to viners, assuming they will be reviewed by the target audience or their parents. BIG #$%^ MISTAKE!
some of the reviews:
- 4 stars - "Has helped a little but definitely no miracle cure for sure! Probably better for teens than adults.." DUH! adults' acne and teens are completely different
- 3 stars -"I don't have an acne problem, so I can't fully judge the effectiveness of this set." - what the..? So why did you order it?
- 4 stars - "I'm now a middle-aged adult, however,..." However what? what did you think would happen? you'll become a teenager again?
- 3 stars- " I don't have acne or teens lol" - Lol?
Bottom line, 19 reviews - 5 are to the point the rest are pure Blah blah BS! THAT PROMOTS NOTHING- !
A. DON'T USE VINE if it's not tergeted
B. anything i can do about it?
Thank you
25 respuestas
Seller_rI7BZIczK8iAC
You are right, BUT vine reviewers are supposed to represent the average customer.... so, maybe you should precise IN THE TITLE that this product is ONLY for teenagers. Otherwise you will risk costly returns. All your examples show that obviously they didn't notice it's a product for teenagers.
Seller_Sram36TnVt73c
Vine reviewers get product for free. They don't care what it is or what it is for. Thus, they often have no clue what they are reviewing.
Probably works great for simple items like shoelaces and frisbees, but otherwise I stopped using it after the first experience I had where reviewers were complaining, for example, the office product they received (a badge lanyard) could not be given to their child as a toy due to safety concerns (????).
Seller_kwNtKRND87zH3
Vine is a joke, we gave away 30 units on our other store and got 20 reviews and half were left by complete morons like you see here. Amazon needs to guarantee reviews when units are given for free and FBA fees are also assessed.
Seller_CF0URQS5DxG2u
I like Vine for the cleaning products brand I manage. Hard to find people who don't have a thing that needs polishing.
But for my lifestyle brands, I've learned to avoid Vine. Got a review for a professional-grade camera & lens bag that talked about how they don't have a camera or lenses and don't know if it would be good for that use case. Blew my mind that someone could be like that.
as @Seller_5pOAmLWdemax3said - only use Vine if the product isn't niche. Vine only gets value if the product is broad enough to appeal to/be applicable for most people.
Seller_OwFy0CK4sS1nZ
Vine is never targeted to correct audience and it is abused by the Viners itself. They get everything for free and pretend that they really paid for them.
They buy the items for free even though they do not need them and they leave 2-3 stars on purpose so in the future they can get what they need and leave 5 stars.This will help them to survive on Vine program. Leving 5 star to everything risky.
We also have bad experience with vine. A viner received missing item from Amazon warehouse. She says she is not happy because she got 2 instead of 3. Amazon does not remove it.
Seller_y7K2usRrDUAe8
Vine isn't targeted, it was meant to represent your "average" Amazon shopper, who is around the age of 35-37 (according to some publicly available data).
Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do about it. Viner is all "volunteer" in Amazon's eye of things, and even if they don't leave a review OR leave an irrelevant review, Amazon won't do anything to it as long the review doesn't violate the review guideline. Which 9.99/10 times, these vine "influencers" are smart enough to not leave a review that will get them flagged.
And echoing what others have mentioned in their reply. If your product is niche, consider it hard before using Vine. Vine is really not as effective as you dump that fee/money into actually running ads and have algo learn your audience - which let's be fair, having a learning algo is much better than not having a way to "target".
Seller_Dhw7ksfC2SDZe
We have been selling men's accessories to retail stores across the US for 30-yrs. We launched a solid necktie and pocket square - one reviewer gave me a three star for sending them charcoal grey when the "ordered" black - the review says charcoal. I reached out adn they won't change the review. What to do when the vine review is clearly factually wrong?
Seller_NaEy7NOsIT9d8
I'm not sure that is true. There seems to be a lot of VINE reviewers who only leave 5 star reviews. Apparently to avoid controversy-and this "don't rock the boat" emphasis seems to work. I've checked out a few reviewers' other reviews and this practice is common.
And there are many who review an absurd number of products because they want gold status as those on only silver status are not eligible for items above $100. You would think Amazon would prefer those who only review three or four items a month as it is reasonable to expect their reviews to be more thorough - rather that the boilerplate one sentence five star garbage so often found. There are gadget addicts on VINE who review eight items per day.
This gold vs silver nonsense is relatively new and totally in the service of making it easier for Amazon with the quality of the reviews obviously irrelevant.
What is the difference between Silver and Gold tiers?
Silver Tier: This is the base tier that allows you to request up to 3 items per day from products valued at $100 or less. To be upgraded to the Gold tier, you must review at least 100 Vine items and 90% of your Vine orders within the evaluation period stated in your Account page.
Gold Tier: This is the premium tier that allows you to request up to 8 items per day from products of any value. To remain in this tier, you should review at least 100 Vine items and 90% of your Vine orders within the evaluation period stated in your Account page.
Seller_lVtt8FSKPFhQJ
In some cases, Vine reviewers avoid giving 5 stars in order to appear objective in the eyes of Amazon.com. If they are reviewing 10 products, they probably provide some 3 stars, some 4 stars, and some 5 stars. So even if your product is excellent, getting 3 or 4 stars is possible. This system is a flawed one. Early Reviewer Program was much better. I never plan to use it again.
Seller_x39QeHgyQBSFL
I've never heard of a seller who got any value whatsoever from Vine reviews. Even if the review is helpful and positive to shoppers, they discount it because they know it's practically a paid endorsement (from their perspective).
